Blackness
by xodramionexo
Summary: Hermione was in coma for two years. When she wakes up, she realizes nothing will ever be the same.


Chapter One

The Fall

Hermione stood in the doorway of the common room. She saw Ginny and Harry laughing together by the fireplace. While she didn't want to interrupt their conversation, she couldn't stand to just watch them. Ginny looked at Harry the way that every guy wanted to be looked at. She looked at him like he was the one. The redhead looked at Harry as if true love actually existed and that in some mastermind plan there was only one person for everyone. But Hermione understood that the world wasn't black and white. There were too many stories being written every day, too many people falling in love, too many people breaking apart, it just wasn't that simple.

Biting her bottom lip, Hermione entered the scene as she warmed her hands by the burning fire. As soon as she entered Harry's field of vision, he jumped, and moved a little away from Ginny. It was like a child who had been caught with their hand inside of the cookie jar. This response did not go unnoticed my Ginny, who suddenly seemed a little hurt and fragile to the awkward circumstance. Hermione pretended not to notice as her head turned towards the stairs where Ron was rushing down. He had a newspaper in his hand as he reached Harry, gently brushing Ginny even further away from her crush.

"Have you seen the paper? They have an article about the quidditch match, Harry. You're on the front page!" Ron handed it to him.

Harry's eyes scanned the page even though he wasn't really interested. He had seen his face on the newspaper so many times before that it surprised him when there wasn't at article written about him. Supposing this was a selfish thought, Harry gave a fake smile as if he were shocked. Skimming the few paragraphs written about his performance, Harry wondered if Ron had noticed the tension rising in the room. Fortunately for Ron, he was as oblivious as ever.

"Um, you guys," Ginny began speaking, "Not that we don't love spending time with you, but Harry and I were planning on studying alone."

"Studying?" Ron questioned, "But Ginny...you promised me just last week that we could go to the dueling club today."

"Perhaps we can do it _another_ time." Ginny made a facial expression to Ron that he should have picked up on.

"Ginny, we haven't spent time together in forever. I just thought this would be a nice bonding experience." Ron was angry, but he didn't know who to be mad at. Part of him was upset that his sister wasn't prioritizing him, but the other part of him was mad at Harry for keeping her.

"Ronald-" Ginny started to say more aggressively.

"I'm sure Hermione wouldn't mind helping me with this homework assignment, Ginny. This club seems important to your brother. I think you should go with him." Harry suggested, trying to ease the tension.

"But..." Ginny stopped herself before saying something she would regret. "Fine." She quietly stood up and left the room with Ron by her side.

Hermione finally pulled her hand back from the fireplace. She turned around to see Harry sitting alone, waiting for her help. Thinking back over the years, Hermione could remember spending countless hours tutoring Harry. Even after all this time, even after all the changes, their relationship still felt the same. In her hectic life, Hermione was happy to know that she could rely on one thing to always stay the same. Harry and Hermione had been good friends from practically the beginning. They were always finding trouble to get into, and no matter how much Hermione complained about it or emphasized the possible consequences, she loved every minute of it. When her parents felt far away, her teachers became busy, and Ron was forgetful, Hermione always knew she could depend on Harry. Walking closer towards the couch, she crossed her arms. She sat down beside Harry and looked over the homework assignment he was attempting.

"Harry, this was due last week." Hermione noted aloud.

"Yeah, but I just had so much going on, I didn't have time." Harry made his usual excuses.

"Alright, well did you even read the chapters you were supposed to?" Hermione questioned.

"Well, I read two of them. But I don't remember which ones...and I don't remember much of what I read." Harry admitted, feeling his face become a little red.

"Of course not." Hermione sighed loudly, "Honestly, Harry. You would think you would care more about your academics."

"Hermione, I have a Hell of a lot more going on than just school." He said, putting away his homework assignment. He grabbed his belongings and began walking up the stairs to the male dorms.

"Harry, wait!" Hermione walked after him. "Harry, I wasn't trying to upset you. I was just making a joke."

"Okay, Hermione." He turned around on the stairs and looked down at her. "Funny joke. I have things to do now."

"Harry, since when did you become so cold to me?" Hermione reached out to grab his wrist, but he pulled away.

"Just leave me alone!" Harry yelled at her. But Hermione tried to get him to stay, so she reached outwards towards him again. This time, he pushed his hands outward to block her, and instead ended up causing her to fall down the stairs. Hermione remembered hearing him yell out her name before everything went black.

Blackness is a funny thing. Time can elapse so quickly, even when you feel like no time has gone by at all. Blackness can fill up everything, causing blankness...nothingness. To be trapped into blackness is something that few people ever come to know. But after knowing what the blackness is and what it feels like, it's hard to put time into perspective. What is time? ** _What is time?_**

* * *

When Hermione awoke, she was in the hospital wing alone. She could hear ringing in her ears, but it began to fade away. Her vision was blurry at first, but as she blinked a few times, it became clear. Slowly, she pushed herself to sit up in the hospital bed. Looking at the clock, she saw it was three o'clock in the morning. Thinking back, she remembered Harry yelling at her and accidentally pushing her down the stairs. Pushing the yellow covers to the side, Hermione stood up. When she realized that no one was in the hospital wing, she got herself dressed. She couldn't find any serious wounds or injuries as she examined her body. Before leaving the hospital wing, she looked into a mirror placed beside her bed. Lifting it up to see herself clearly, Hermione gasped at the hair that was now about five inches longer than it had been.

She dropped the mirror to the ground, letting it break beside her feet. Without second guessing, she began running. She ran straight out of the hospital wing, through the halls, up the stairs, and to the Gryffindor common room. No one was up at this time, which was rather understandable. Without putting much thought into it, Hermione rushed to the staircase to the boys' room. Stopping for a moment, she looked at the sixth step, the one she fell from. Trying to be brave, she took a deep breath and ran up the stairs as fast as she could and swung open the door. All of the boys were in a deep sleep and majority of them were snoring. Silently walking over to the last bed in the room, Hermione saw Harry. Staring at him for a few minutes, Hermione wondered if he would still be mad at her. Debating whether or not she should wake him, Harry suddenly rolled over towards her and opened his sleepy eyes. Hermione remained completely silent as Harry began waking up fully.

"Hermione?" Harry instinctively reached for his glasses. Sitting up, he put them on casually, obviously not thinking she was real, but rather a dream. When he turned back to look at her, he saw her still standing there. "H-Hermione?" He called out to her.

"Sh, you'll wake the others," Hermione said lightly, trying to be as quiet as possible.

"Hermione, you woke up?" Harry stood up from bed.

"Come on," Hermione took him by the hand and started walking down the stairs back to the common room where they could talk easier.

"When did you wake up?" He questioned, still rubbing his eyes in disbelief.

"Harry, I'm fine. I just...I had homework that was due. I'm sure I've been out for a few days. That tumble was pretty rough." Hermione went through her mental checklist. "The professors should give me passes, right? Technically, the homework was done, it just probably wasn't in their hands on time."

"Hermione..." Harry said with big eyes.

"You know what, it's fine, don't worry about it. I think I have over 100% in all of my courses, so it really shouldn't matter. A few homework assignments won't amount to that much. Oh, were you able to finish that homework I didn't get to help you with? By the way, I truly am sorry for my joke, it was stupid of me." Hermione apologized profusely.

"Please, wait, Hermione..." Harry tried to cut her off, but she just kept talking.

"I'll go get my homework from my room, I bet it's right where I left it. The professors will have to understand under the circumstances, it was really out of my control." Hermione turned to go to her room, but Harry put himself in front of her path.

"Hermione, that homework...it won't matter now. It's okay, you don't need to worry about it. I assure you." Harry told her, still blocking her from the stairs.

"Harry, it has to count for something. I'm certain our professors still have hearts."

"No, I'm telling you it won't matter." Harry's voice dropped down a little lower and serious.

"What are you saying?" Hermione wondered aloud.

"I'm...I'm saying you've been in coma for two years." Harry finally told her.

Hermione took a step back, slightly shaking her head. He had to have been teasing her. This was some sort of elaborate prank. There was no way she was in coma, she just took a fall, that was all. Only a few days had passed at most, and even that would be a stretch. Firmly, Hermione refused to believe him. Pushing past him, she rushed up to the girls' room to find all the girls fast asleep. Every bed was full except for one. Hermione's bed was made up, and her trunk and belongings were gone. Her heart skipped a beat as she searched for her books, her notes, her clothes. She couldn't find any belongings under the bed or in the drawers. Hermione began rushing and repeatedly saying the word no. Other girls in the room began to wake up one by one. They began calling out her name and moving towards her. Ginny put her arms around the girl, trying to pull her back. Hermione couldn't focus on anyone. All her attention was caught up in the fact that two years of her life just went missing. All of her belongings were gone, as if she had completely been erased from Hogwarts. This was her home.

A few tears came down her face as she turned to look towards Harry who was still standing by the doorway. The girls surrounded Hermione asking her questions about how she was feeling and when she had woke up. Once the usual questions had been asked, the girls started trying to catch her up on the school couples, classes, and dramas all at the same time. Ginny pulled her away from the crowd, seeing how overwhelmed and emotional she was.

"Harry, I think you should take her to the hospital wing." Ginny handed Hermione off to him. "She should probably be checked out."

"Of course," Harry guided Hermione through the halls and back to the hospital wing.

* * *

Hermione remained speechless as Madam Pomfrey did a physical examination.

"Can you hear me, Miss Granger? Do you understand what I am saying?" The nurse asked as she wrote down a few notes. Hermione did not reply, but instead nodded.

"Will you notify my parents that I'm awake now?" Hermione softly asked.

"I..." Madam Pomfrey stopped and swallowed hard. Her gentle eyes shifted to Harry, hoping he would know how to handle this situation. "I'm afraid that I cannot do that, Miss Granger."

"They would want to know," Hermione cried out, looking over to Harry as if he should be doing something.

"Hermione, just calm down. I'll take care of it, okay? I will go send them a letter right now, and I'll be back. In the meantime, please listen to Madam Pomfrey." Harry stood up and looked over at the nurse before exiting.

After thirty minutes, Madam Pomfrey finished the paperwork and the physical examination. She told Hermione to get some sleep after giving her a cup of water and a piece of bread. Then, the nurse dimmed the lights and left the hospital wing for the night. Not long after, Harry entered the hospital wing again. He stood at the doorway for a moment, as if trying to decide if he should come clean about something. Eventually, he made his way to the hospital bed, where he sat down beside her. Hermione could tell that he had something important to say, but gave him the time to perk up the courage.

"H-Hermione," Harry began in an uneasy voice. "There's something I need to tell you. This...this isn't easy for me to say, but I think you should hear it from me." Hermione looked up at him and nodded, trying to brace herself. "Hermione, your-"

"Hermione!" The enormous door opened as Ron rushed to the bedside, greeting the bushy haired girl with a tight hug.

"I'm sorry, Harry, I held him off for as long as I could." Ginny apologized as she followed behind her brother.

"Ronald," Hermione looked at him up and down, realizing how much different he looked. Apparently after the past two years, his shoulders had broadened and he began to grow a little facial hair. She couldn't decide if he looked this way better or not, but she was happy to feel his arms wrapped around her. After all, they had been friends for years. The only thing missing from the scene was her parents.

"Can you please send another owl?" Hermione turned to Harry, "It should have arrived by now, and my parents would know to keep an eye out."

"You haven't told her yet?" Ron took a step back from Hermione as his eyes searched for Harry.

"I was trying to, but you..." Harry started to speak.

"Interrupted," Ginny crossed her arms, "Something you're alarmingly great at doing."

Taking a sharp breath in, Hermione looked among her friends. Had two years really gone by? It seemed as though nothing had changed. Harry and Ron were still close, Ginny was still yearning for Harry, and things between Ron and Hermione were still lingering in the space between them. Time seemed completely irrelevant in this moment, yet she knew that she had missed far too much. How would she graduate when she was supposed to? How would she make up for all the exams and paperwork? They had already sent her items home, it was as if they expected her to never wake.

"Listen, Hermione," Ginny kneeled down in front of her, "Since no one else has told you..."

"Ginny, no," Harry stopped her. Ginny turned her gaze towards him, confused by his harsh tone. "I will tell her. I think it's best if it comes from me." Harry ignored Ginny's obvious pain, and turned his body to face Hermione. "I'm sure as you would have guessed...a lot has happened within these past two years." Harry went on to explain about death eaters, and Voldemort's rising power. He expressed his concern about Draco Malfoy and his affiliation. "Four months ago, there was an attack by the death eaters. In an attempt to purify the blood of witches and wizards...they killed many who weren't pureblood. One of the attacks was aimed at your parents."

There it was again, that same blackness. Only this time Hermione was still in control. Her vision and hearing wasn't lost, and she was able to move her body around. But a darkness filled up inside of her, a passionate hate that she had never experienced. Balling her hands into fists, she tried to calm herself. She wanted to ask the question, but she was afraid that she already knew the answer. Without moving her gaze from Harry, she tried to read his expression. It was all beginning to make sense. Madam Pomfrey's reaction to Hermione asking about her parents was out of pity. Harry had merely lied to her when he left the room because he didn't know how to tell her the truth. It was the same reason why Harry insisted he should be the one to bare the bad news. He knew what it was like...to be an orphan.

"W-was it quick?" Hermione felt her voice shaking.

"What?" Ginny didn't understand.

"Harry, please tell me it was quick." Hermione's bottom lip trembled as she began to burst into tears. He put his arms around her and pulled her close into his chest.

"It was quick, practically painless." He ran one of his hands through her hair. Hermione wasn't sure if Harry actually had the answer to that question. But in this moment, she didn't care about the truth. All she cared about was filling this unbearable pain with something that hurt a little less. And right now, in Harry's arms, things seemed to hurt a little less. She felt Ron sit behind her on the bed, as he rested his head on her back. Ginny continued to kneel on the ground as she placed her hands on Hermione's knees. They listened to her sob as her heart broke. In a sense, their hearts broke for her.

Nothing would ever be the same again. Nothing _could_ ever be the same again.


End file.
